Capturing Flags and Flashbacks
by Frozen-Demigod33
Summary: based off a Tumblr headcannon: Nico has had major PTSD and gets an unfortunate reminder of some of his traumas. Luckily, he has his boyfriend and friends to help care for and defend him.
**I'm back again. I must admit it was a nice break from writing stories, however. I don't know when I'll be writing another fic again. Hope you guys like this one**

 **This is based off a** **headcannon I found on Tumblr. ~Frozen-Demigod33**

* * *

Nico felt so stupid. He _knew_ that there were traps around on the and his team were going against the Hermes Cabin. That meant two things: they were excellent at laying down traps and the Stoll brothers were sons of Hermes and excellent at setting traps and pulling pranks. Nico didn't really have anything against the Stoll brothers or even Cecil really. But at the moment he was cursing the entire cabin and himself as he had managed to accidentally fall in one of their traps. He grumbled to himself and tried to feel around in the darkness. He cursed in Italian when he realized that his sword wasn't with him. The ground below him felt wooden and he ran into another wooden section. He frowned as he felt along the surface of it. As he raised his hands up a little higher, his fingertips brushed across something… metal? He frowned as he repeatedly brushed over the metal surface again before it dawned on him. They were hinges, which meant there was a lid above him. By this point, had only been freaking out minimally. He shrugged as he pressed on it, figuring it would open easily. Except… it didn't budge. Nico sucked in a breath and started punching at the lid and went as far as trying to kick it open. Each time he hit the surface and each time it refused to open for him, his heart rate sped up. Weakly, he punched it one more time. He was thankful it wasn't bronze and his knuckles didn't— _No, Nico don't think about_ that _now!_ He thought, but it was too late. His warped mind was pulled into where he was trapped in that bronze jar and one thing led to another and he found himself hyperventilating in the trap. It was too dark, too small, and too familiar. He needed air. He was already slightly claustrophobic before the jar incident and said incident just made it much worse. Too terrified to use his powers or make a sound, the son of Hades curled in a ball, rocking back and forth trying with no success to calm himself. With his panic and struggling to breathe, the Ghost King slowly began to lose consciousness before slipping into complete and utterly terrifying darkness.

* * *

Annabeth wore a smirk on her face as she looked at her defeated best friend and boyfriend. Piper was only bummed a little, but shook her hand and congratulated her. Percy on the other hand was pouting.

"I thought I had you this time," he muttered.

"Better luck next time, Seaweed Brain," she chuckled, punching him on the shoulder.

"But I wanted to _win_!" he whined. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Sometimes she felt like she was babysitting a child rather than dating a nineteen-year-old son of Poseidon who had survived two wars.

She was about to make a reply when she heard Jason pipe up. "Hey," he frowned, "where's Nico?" At the mention of the son of Hades, another set of blue eyes looked up and began scanning the crowd. Everyone else seemed to the same.

Piper spoke up trying to calm people with her charmspeak as some people started freaking out a little.

"I'm sure it's fine, guys," she said confidently. "I bet Nico just went back to his cabin. I'll go check."

"I'll come with you," Percy volunteered and the two took off towards the thirteenth cabin. Not sure what to do, everyone stood around awkwardly, waiting for the two demigods to come back, assuring them the son of Hades was just in his cabin and that they were dismissed.

Five minutes later, Annabeth and Jason's significant others came back, looking worried. Percy's eyes swept the crowd and Piper spoke quietly, but everyone heard her.

"He isn't in his cabin."

"But where could he be?!" a voice that belonged to the cabin counselor of the Apollo children protested. Though he sounded annoyed, Annabeth could hear the worry and concern laced in his voice.

Cecil piped up, "Maybe he's in one of the traps that we set up."

Percy frowned, "But I thought you could escape them."

"Not all of them," he replied. "My and some of my siblings will go check them and let you know if we find anything."

Chiron who had been silently watching the scene play out spoke up and let most of the campers go back to their cabins, save for the older Hermes kids and Nico's friends. After an excruciating fifteen minutes, the Hermes kids had returned with Nico… who was unconscious. One of the Stoll brothers was holding onto him while the other carried his sword in his hand.

"He was in one of our box traps," Connor announced. The rest of them, minus the other Hermes kids frowned. Travis meanwhile began to try and shake Nico awake. He wasn't having much success.

"Box traps?" Annabeth asked, curiously.

Cecil spoke up. "Yeah," he explained. "They're large enough to hold a person and when someone falls into them—like Nico did—the lid slides over the top of them and locks them in there until we let them out."

Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Jason, and Leo went completely silent before Piper spoke.

"Whose idea was this to make such a thing?" her voice was deadly. The other Hermes campers looked a bit confused, as well as a little scared. When she wanted to be, Piper was down right terrifying. Quickly following her glare was Jason and Percy. Since the end of the Giant War, both Percy and Jason had assigned themselves as Nico's big brothers and got into daily fights about who was the better brother. Percy turned and muttered something to Jason, who nodded, before running off. Piper all the meanwhile began berating the Stoll brothers and the other Hermes campers, spilling out information about Nico's trip to Tartarus and time in the bronze jar that only a handful of people knew about. Everyone looked guilty, some not meaning to, but Piper's charmspeak and emotions were strong. Jason was about to go up and try and calm his girlfriend down when Percy and another blond boy returned. In a matter of seconds, several emotions flashed across Will Solace's face before he quickly yanked the unconscious boy from the Stoll boys, scooped him up, bridal style, and ran off to the infirmary with him. After a few minutes more of Piper's berating the Hermes campers, everyone started to migrate back towards their cabins. His friends cast a worried glance towards the infirmary, hoping he'd be all right. Then again, since Will was taking care of him, they knew he'd be just fine.

* * *

Will was removing a few final splinters when his boyfriend came to. He watched Nico sit up, squinting a little at the light before swiftly checking out his surroundings. When his coffee brown eyes landed on him, Will wanted to cry a little. The poor boy looked absolutely terrified.

Nico managed to croak out, "W-where am I?"

In a hushed tone, Will spoke while offering him a glass of water. "You're in the infirmary, angel. You had fallen in one of the traps and were rendered unconscious."

Nico bit his lip and Will could see his mind buzzing, bringing back the pieces of the previous events. When they made eye contact again, his boyfriend's lip was trembling and his eyes were brimming with tears.

"I, I w-was so scared," Nico managed.

"I know, love," Will gently managed before he shifted onto the cot and pulled Nico onto his lap.

Nico started shaking and he grabbed a fistful of Will's scrubs. "I—it was so, real, and I couldn't breathe, and—" Nico cut himself off as he began to hyperventilate again, the tears now running freely down his face.

"Shhh, angel," Will cooed. "Deep breaths, baby, deep breaths." He pulled him impossibly closer and pressed his ear to his heartbeat and ran a firm hand up and down his back, pausing every now and then to rub in little circles. Nico just curled up taking in his boyfriend's warmth and bawled. It took him a half hour before he calmed down and began to feel drowsy. Will was humming softly and rocking him and this time as his eyes shut, the darkness didn't seem so terrifying.


End file.
